Yesterday the calendar gave everyone something to talk about with the whole 11-1-11 thing. it was such a topic of discussion that I decided that it ought be celebrated, and apparently so did my body -- by ushering in my first official head cold of the season. Between the cycles of runny nose, stuffed up nose, and sneezing, I decided that it would be ironic to celebrate the first day of November with an Old Man Winter Ale from Southern Tier Brewing Company.

I poured my 12oz bottle into my pint glass and was amazed at the creaminess and retention of the head. I literally just let my glass sit for a few minutes to see if, and how much, it would dissipate, and it actually went away very little at all. My opinion of the aroma and taste were obviously slightly skewed by the funk coursing through my head, but the fresh aroma of citrusy hops did manage to find it's way through somehow. This brew is described as an Old Ale style and poured a beautiful mahogany color associated with the style. There was a definite hop bitterness that came through with my initial sips, but it was not overbearing. I was not able to make out many of the other characters of the beer with the death grip my nose was under, but could tell there was more to this beer than I was really able to enjoy at the time. Old Man Winter Ale gets pretty decent ratings from Ratebeer.com (a score of 93) and Beeradvocate.com (with a B+ average), but again, I don't feel comfortable assigning my full opinion to it. It is a beer that I enjoyed enough, given the circumstances, that I'd like to give a go again before winter is over, but from what I could tell, not one that I'd be head over heels to seek out.

If anyone else has been fortunate enough to try Old Man I'd love to hear some feedback or opinions in the comment section or on the Lville Beer Facebook page....and while you're there you might as well go to the Twitter and Foursquare pages and follow me. We can chat about beer this Winter when we're all holed up in our homes.